Windows 8 Administrative Tools – Disk Cleanup

How to Launch It

Control Panel Way

• Open “Administrative Tools” applet from the traditional Control Panel.
• Launch “Disk Cleanup” from the list of administrative tools.

Command Way

•   Invoke Run window or Search Charm. Select the Settings tab in case of Search Charm.
•   Type in the command “cleanmgr”, and hit Enter.

I will describe a sample cleanup process with my System(C:) drive. The first window that comes up after the tool launches, prompts you to select the drive that you want to clean up. Click “OK” after selecting the desired drive. The tool will then calculate the space that you will be able to save after the cleanup completes. That is, it calculates the files that it can delete during the cleanup process. Disk Cleanup then presents you a list of the files and folders that it can delete safely. You can select folders that you wish to delete. On highlighting a folder, you can see the description of its contents. You can also view the highlighted folder in Windows Explorer by clicking “View Files”. The window also shows the amount of space that you will save if you delete all the files, as well as the amount of space that you will save if you delete only the currently selected folders. Select the folders that you want to delete, and click “OK”. This will start the cleanup process. Disk Cleanup displays what it is deleting at the moment. ]]>